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What Did You Call Me? Supporting Ethnic-Named Students in Career Development
Description:
Names and naming practices vary amongst different communities and cultures around the world. Every person, place, or thing has a given name that is an informative indicator of its origin. Names are powerful because they provide information about a person’s ethnicity, gender, and culture. In some cultures, names have a significant tie to a person’s destiny in life. A name is the first piece of uniqueness and identity that is given to a person at birth. Despite the importance of ethnic names and sense of belonging, little research has been conducted regarding the issue of the use of ethnic names and cultural validation and increasing sense of belonging in the workplace. Liao (2011) claims that if an immigrant changes their name, whether officially or unofficially, it may subconsciously alter the immigrant’s ethnic identity and cause identity negotiation to occur. There is a strong connection between identity and name, and research suggests that identity shifts when a name is changed (Elizabeth, 2020). People who alter or change their names also modify or change their identity, even if in that given moment (Liao, 2011). How can we as professionals then encourage students with ethnic names or "Black sounding" names to embrace their names and all of who they are?
Audience:
Career Services
Track:
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Main Speaker:
Abiodun Durojaye, National Louis U
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